The Hives: The Dying Of Randy Fitzsimmons

(Fuga)

All codecs

Out eleventh August 2023

The Hives are again after greater than a decade with their new album, killing off their svengali however nonetheless pushing their cranked storage rock to the max. A triumphant return.

BUY HERE

Final month I had the pleasure of chatting with Nick Vahlberg, frontman/guitarist with the legendary Swedish band The Nomads, whose 1983 debut album, The place The Wolf Bane Blooms, kickstarted the entire Scandinavian garage-rock scene. With out them, we would by no means have had The Hellacopters, Gluecifer, or The (Worldwide) Noise Conspiracy. Nevertheless, ten years in the past he proclaimed the storage scene doomed. After I requested him what he thought now, looking for a solution, winding his reminiscence again, and, subsequently, taking again his preliminary proclamation, 5 phrases had been sufficient: “Simply take a look at The Hives.”

Take a look at them certainly.

Touchdown on most individuals’s radar again in 2001 with their compilation album, Your New Favorite Band, their razor-sharp licks, fits, and strikes jutted alongside to their infectious stop-start rhythms. The band had been an injection of pure enjoyable within the burgeoning scene of the brand new millennium. They eschewed the aloof cool of The Strokes, but embraced two of the defining essences of The White Stripes: well-defined visuals and a fantastic backstory. Collectively the three bands had been the holy trilogy of no matter moniker the NME lumped the bands coming via beneath. Beneath completely different shades, it was storage, pure and easy. The late 60s had fed the early 80s which fed the 2000s. What bands like The Nomads, The Fleshtones, and The Cynics took from The Sonics, The Stooges, and The Seeds, they fed to the likes of The Hives, who subsequently took it to an entire new era and an entire new degree.

On their new album, the backstory, the tall story that each one their songs had been written by an unknown svengali named Randy Fitzsimmons is considerably lastly laid to relaxation. Kudos to the band for retaining it going so lengthy! Fitzsimmons is lifeless and the band, on listening to the information, have exhumed his physique solely to discover a set of demos and tapes of unreleased materials which they as soon as once more have laid down for all to listen to on their sixth album, The Dying Of Randy Fitzsimmons.

They kick it off with the one Bogus Operandi, the title maybe a wink past the fourth wall as they carry the curtain to disclose their Oz on the controls of their MO during the last twenty-five years. The crashing beefed-up opening riffs quickly give technique to the unmistakeable proclamations of Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist as brother Nicholaus Arson pulls the band alongside in unison, the conductor of their garage-rock riot, ceaselessly sustaining them in tight-knit unison. It’s one thing that the band have at all times achieved and what has marked them out from these round them; that seemingly innate potential to spin on a dime…and with type.

They rocket at breakneck velocity on Trapdoor Answer, the degrees pushed all the best way up into the pink to the purpose the place the distortion threatens to engulf, displaying that they nonetheless have greater than what it takes to maintain the tempo, earlier than Countdown To Shutdown is available in on a fantastic rolling down groove, giving new bassist The Johan and Solely (gotta love their AKA’s!) his first style of Hives limelight. It’s a high-voltage injection of pure power that doesn’t disappoint.

By way of the album, they forged their gaze throughout the many years of nice garage-inspired rock ‘n’ roll to attract in several shades, making the album a delight of selection. On Smoke & Mirrors, the band are channeling the crashing rhythm of I Fought The Regulation-era Conflict, the riff on What Did I Ever Do To You? skirts near Arctic Monkeys’ Do I Wanna Know?, whereas Stick Up and Crash Into The Weekend, one of many album highlights, push a ramped-up country-punk type to the fore.

When they’re pure Hives, they hit a few of their finest moments and remind us simply what it’s that we fell for again once they broke out. The Bomb is a superb playful racket of spitting double damaging wordplay that wraps round itself and is bound to set the pits on hearth on their upcoming tour dates. Two Varieties Of Bother sees Arson buying and selling spitfire licks and dueling guitars with Vigilante Carlstroem, and album nearer Step Out Of The Approach blasts out with one last riot, reminding us that the band are much more than the sum of their elements as Chris Harmful powers them alongside on a continuous beat.

Thirty years after the mysterious Randy Fitzsimmons took management and The Hives have put collectively considered one of their finest albums up to now. Time will inform if their guru left any extra gems, however, for now, that is one hell of a wake.

The Dying Of Randy Fitzsimmons is out there from Sister Ray.

The Hives have numerous signing periods and reside exhibits within the UK subsequent week. They’re on tour within the UK and Eire subsequent 12 months.
Tickets for all exhibits and signings can be found from the band’s web site.

10 Aug: Assai Data (SIGNING ONLY), Glasgow, UK
11 Aug: Tough Commerce East (SIGNING – 12pm), London, UK
11 Aug: Tough Commerce East (LIVE SHOW – 18:00pm), London, UK
12 Aug: Banquet Data @ Pryzm – LATE SHOW, Kingston, UK
12 Aug: Banquet Data @ Pryzm – MATINEE SHOW, Kingston, UK
13 Aug: Tough Commerce Bristol (SIGNING ONLY), Bristol, UK
14 Aug: Tough Commerce Nottingham (SIGNING ONLY), Nottingham, UK
15 Aug: Jacaranda Data (SIGNING ONLY), Liverpool, UK

2024 UK/IRE Tour Dates
March
twenty seventh Leeds, Leeds Academy
twenty eighth Newcastle, Metropolis Corridor
twenty ninth Nottingham, Rock Metropolis
thirtieth Wolverhampton, The Halls

April 2024
1st Glasgow, Barrowland
2nd Bristol, Academy
third Brighton, Brighton Dome
fifth Cardiff, Nice Corridor
sixth Manchester, Academy
eighth Dublin, Olympia
tenth Norwich, UEA
thirteenth London, Eventim Apollo

Tickets for all exhibits and signings can be found from the band’s web site.

The Hives are on Fb, Twitter, and Instagram.

~

Phrases by Nathan Whittle. Discover his Louder Than Battle archive right here.

Nathan additionally presents From The Storage on Louder Than Battle Radio each Tuesday at 8pm. Tune in for an hour of fuzz-crunching storage rock ‘n’ roll and atone for all exhibits on the From The Storage Mixcloud playlist.